Alicia Masters (Earth-11584)
History "More than just your face changed with that machine, Ben. You changed everything about you." Alicia Masters is an artist and sculptor, as well as the current girlfriend of the Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm, AKA The Thing. Blind since birth, Alicia never let that obstacle get in her way of her love of art or her ability to sculpt objects from memory. Alicia attended a special school for the blind since she was a young child, learning to use her other senses to help her "see" in a sense, and it is from this training that she gained her well-developed tactile sense and was able to earn a full ride scholarship from ESU in art and sculpture. She was a struggling artist in Central Park when she came across Ben Grimm for the first time, as he was feeling dejected about being labeled a monster based on his appearance alone. Alicia came up to him and offered to sculpt his portrait, having no idea who the Fantastic Four really were or that Ben was in actuality the rock-skinned Thing. Alicia felt the contours of his face and, instead of being horrified, was intrigued, and proceeded to produce a quick sculpture from clay of Ben. This gesture of friendship lightened Ben's day, so much so that he asked her out to dinner that night. A relationship began to build between the two, and it was this relationship that led Ben to invite Alicia to serve as his "date" to a banquet in Latveria, which was actually an undercover mission to determine Doctor Doom's motivations to the rest of the world. In Latveria, Alicia was present at the dinner with Doom, in which the despot's origins were discussed and he offered to take them on a tour of his country the following morning. To her surprise, however, the other members of the team left on an "urgent mission", leaving Ben, Alicia, and SHIELD agent Maria Hill behind. The three were taken on an obviously staged tour of the countryside, with Doom explaining to Ben of the advances that they had made in medical technology, and that he may have a solution for his "condition", something that Alicia truly didn't understand. Doom also made the offer to cure Alicia's blindness, but she politely (yet firmly) declined. Later, Ben was placed into a machine that undid the cosmic energy, reverting him back to his human form. At first Alicia was happy for Ben, though she honestly did not understand why he felt the need to be cured. When Ben stuck up for Doom in response to the evidence that he had kidnapped his friends and held them captive, Alicia got into an argument with him, saying that more than just his face had changed, inspiring Ben to return to his friends, transforming back into The Thing and eventually leading to them being rescued from Doom and denying the despot the ultimate power that he sought. Alicia returned to New York with Ben, where they remain a couple to this very day. Alternate Timeline In the alternate timeline of Infinity War, Alicia survived the so-called "Snap" of Thanos and was staying with her sister in Boston in the immediate aftermath. After the Avengers were declared fugitives, she settled with Ben Grimm in upstate New York and lived a relatively quiet life. She was no longer living with Ben by 2038, possibly due to Ben's depression and survivor's guilt from being the only member of the Fantastic Four to survive the Infinity War, and was eventually killed by the destruction of this Earth by Galactus. Powers & Abilities * Heightened Senses: Due to being blind since birth, Alicia Masters' remaining senses have been heightened. While they do not exist at a super-human level such as with Matt Murdock, it is noticeable nonetheless. Most notably is her sense of touch, as she is able to create a reasonable recreation of Ben Grimm's face in clay sculpture simply by tracing the contours with her hands. Weaknesses Alicia's primary "weakness" as it were is her blindness. She has no sense of color or other visual acuities, as she was born blind. When Doctor Doom offered to cure her blindness, she declined, stating that she likely wouldn't be able to cope with the new sensations. Alicia Masters also has no special abilities that would protect her from harm. Film Details Alicia Masters appears within the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases she is portrayed by actress Lucy Liu. * Fantastic Four: Doomsday (2016) * World War Hulk (2017) only * Avengers: Infinity (2019) only Category:Earth-11584 Category:Earth-11584 Characters Category:Good Characters